THE: Higher education Green Paper: reaction

Universities and other sector bodies have given a cautious welcome to proposals contained in a new Green Paper on higher education in THE.

Maddalaine Ansell, chief executive of University Alliance, said that universities will “welcome the government’s commitment to support more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access, and succeed within, higher education”.

“But this does come at a cost. If this is not recognised in the forthcoming spending review, today’s commitment is just empty words,” she said.

Ms Ansell also welcomed the commitment to retain the dual-support system for research.

“This makes our system dynamic and promotes innovation,” she said, adding that “while we recognise the value of reducing the cost of participating in the research excellence framework, any simplification must not introduce concentration by the back door.”